Pacquiao to push for one student, one gadget program

Presidential aspirant and Senator Manny Pacquiao on Friday said he would push for  a “one student, one gadget” program if elected in Eleksyon 2022 as he sees prolonged implementation of limited face-to-face classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement, the lawmaker said this would create equal opportunities for poor students who cannot keep up with the demands of the “new normal” in the educational system.

He also emphasized the need to align the educational system to the possibility of prolonged blended learning modality, urging the Department of Education as well as the Commission on Higher Education to craft long-term plans on the use of modules and digital platforms as mode of teaching.

“I think that we have to be ready for prolonged limited face-to-face classes….We will provide every student their own devices to use for their online classes,” he said.

“If possible, we will also look into providing free internet connectivity to marginalized communities to use for online learning. Kailangan nating ipaglaban ito upang manalo naman ang mga mahihirap (We need to push for this so we can uplift the lives of the poor Filipinos),” he added.

The lawmaker empathized with the poor students who are having a hard time to cope with the new system of learning amid the health crisis.

“D’yan ako galing kaya gagawan ko talaga ng paraan para hindi nila maranasan ang aking mga pinagdaanan,” Pacquiao said.

(I've been there that's why I will make sure that they won't suffer the same fate.)

The lawmaker said the gadgets for each student could be funded if the government would track the estimated P700 billion to P1 trillion public funds which he said are lost to corruption.

Apart from this, Pacquiao said the funds for the program could also be sourced from savings generated by “trimming the fat in the bureaucracy and from intelligence and confidential funds.”

“Napakadami nating mga overpaid na mga bureaucrats pero kaunti lang naman ang ambag sa bayan. Sa halip na gastusin ang pera ng bayan para sa kanilang sweldo, mas maigi siguro na gamitin na lang natin para makatulong sa mga mahihirap nating mga mag-aaral,” Pacquiao said.

(There are a lot of overpaid bureaucrats but they are not serving the country well. Instead of using the funds to pay for their salaries, it would be better if we will use the money to help our poor students.)

He likewise raised the possibility of engaging in a public-private partnership with telecommunications companies to improve the country’s connectivity.

This PPP could include future projects by the Philippine Space Agency which he said could launch its own communications satellites.

A bill seeking to provide tablets or similar devices to each public student was already filed in the Senate last year.—LDF, GMA News